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Video shows gruesome aftermath of Minnesota police shooting

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Updated: 1:34 PM MDT Jul 7, 2016

(Diamond Reynolds via AP)

This still image taken from video by Diamond Reynolds shows a police officer pointing a gun at her boyfriend, Philando Castile, during a traffic stop on Wednesday, July 6, 2016 in Falcon Heights, Minn. The officer shot Castile, and Reynolds apparently livestreamed the aftermath on Facebook from the passenger seat. As the video and word of the shooting spread, scores of people gathered at the scene and outside the hospital where Castile died.

SOURCE: (Diamond Reynolds via AP)

Video shows gruesome aftermath of Minnesota police shooting

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Updated: 1:34 PM MDT Jul 7, 2016

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. —

A woman who watched as a police officer fatally shot her boyfriend during a traffic stop broadcast the gruesome aftermath of the slaying live on Facebook, telling a worldwide audience that her companion had been shot "for no apparent reason" while reaching for his wallet as the officer had demanded.

Within hours, the Minnesota governor was pressing for the Justice Department to open its second investigation of the week into the death of a black man at the hands of police.

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The latest shooting happened late Wednesday in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights.

In the video, Diamond Reynolds describes being pulled over for a "busted tail light" and says her boyfriend had told the officer he was carrying a gun for which he was licensed.

As word of the shooting spread, relatives of the man joined scores of people who gathered at the scene and outside the hospital where he died. They identified him as Philando Castile of St. Paul, a well-liked 32-year-old cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori school.

Reynolds said Thursday that he was killed even though he complied with the officer's instructions. She told reporters that Castile did "nothing but what the police officer asked of us, which was to put your hands in the air and get your license and registration."

In addition to seeking help from the Justice Department, Gov. Mark Dayton said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had opened its own investigation.

Speaking to CNN, Castile's mother said that she suspected she would never learn the whole truth about her son's death.

"I think he was just black in the wrong place," Valerie Castile said early Thursday, adding that she had underlined to her children that they must do what authorities tell them to do to survive.

"I know my son ... we know black people have been killed ... I always told them, whatever you do when you get stopped by police, comply, comply, comply."

Police did not release any details about the officer who fired except to say he had been placed on paid administrative leave. Reynolds described him as Asian.

It was the second fatal police shooting this week, coming only days after a black 37-year-old man was killed by officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alton Sterling's death was caught on video.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into Sterling's shooting, which took place after he scuffled with two white police officers outside a convenience store.

Castile's cousin, Antonio Johnson, told the Star Tribune that because Castile was a black man driving in a largely middle-class suburb, he "was immediately criminally profiled and he lost his life over it."

The site of the shooting in Falcon Heights is close to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and not far from a clutch of fields associated with the University of Minnesota's agricultural campus.

Late Wednesday, protesters moved to the governor's mansion in nearby St. Paul, where around 200 people chanted and demanded action from Dayton, a Democrat. About 50 protesters stayed through the night.

The video posted Wednesday night on Facebook Live shows the woman in a car next to a bloodied man slumped in a seat. A clearly distraught person who appears to be a police officer stands at the car's window, telling the woman to keep her hands where they are and intermittently swearing.

The interim police chief in nearby St. Anthony, Jon Mangseth, said he was aware of the Facebook video but did not comment on it.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension did not return multiple requests for comment Thursday from The Associated Press.

Facebook Live is a form of internet broadcasting that can be initiated in seconds from the Facebook app. In a few taps, users can send live video straight from their smartphones to friends or to a wider audience.

On the video, the officer tells her to keep her hands up and says: "I told him not to reach for it. I told him to get his hand out."

"You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir," the woman responds.

The video goes on to show the woman exiting the car and being handcuffed. A young girl can be seen and is heard saying at one point, "I'm scared, Mommy."

The woman describes being put in the back seat of the police car and says, "The police just shot my boyfriend for no apparent reason."

It was unclear whether other footage exists. Kim Brazil, the St. Anthony Police Department's office manager, confirmed that their squad cars are equipped with dashboard cameras but said officers do not have body cameras.

A handgun was recovered from the scene, police said.

Castile had worked for the St. Paul school district since he was 19. A principal described him as "a warm person and a gentle spirit" who loved his job and never missed work.

Katherine Holmquist-Burks hired Castile three years ago to supervise the cafeteria at J.J. Hill Montessori, a St. Paul magnet school with 530 students and 85 staff members.

"He stood out because he was happy, friendly and related to people well," she said.

After learning of his death, she went to the governor's mansion, in the same neighborhood as the school, to take part in a vigil.